


I Can't go back to yesterday...

by Jane0Doe



Series: Gone [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Sorry Not Sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 22:00:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20237374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jane0Doe/pseuds/Jane0Doe
Summary: ,,,because i was a different person back thenGrief changes people, this is merely a fact of life.That doesn't mean you have to like it.





	I Can't go back to yesterday...

With Catwomans confirmation of Red Hoods death, they try to move on. Or well, most of them do.

Less than a week after the showdown between the two spurned lovers, Tim disappears with naught but a note left behind to say that he’s going to find Jason.

None of them went after him.

Partly because they knew they wouldn’t find him. Partly because they knew (Hoped) he would come back when he was ready.

And, if a part of each of them, however small, secretly hoped that he was right? That he would find Jason the same way he found Bruce and bring him home? Well, no one else had to know.

.

It was seven months later that Tim returned. 

His skin held a rich tan from days spent traversing the wilderness underneath the gaze of an unforgiving sun. It was unsettling in a way to see him so aglow, when many of them hadn’t even thought it possible when it came to the young workaholic. Timmy had always preferred a computer and a case file over the more hands on side of crime fighting and his complexion had reflected this. 

The messy mop atop his head that he called hair was overgrown and tangled to such a degree that he looked distinctly wild. His newfound look was only heightened by the sun-bleached strands that littered his once dark locks. It was a striking contrast to how he appeared before he vanished and left those who knew him unnerved. Even more so when he refused to do any more than brush and wash it. Timothy may have been a mess most off the time before he left, but he had been a composed mess. This, they weren't even sure what this could be described as.

The new scars that littered his physique were the most obvious change at first glance, but not the most distinctive or telling. In truth it was his eyes. Hardened by what appeared to be grief but also acceptance, they scream the loudest about how his time away has changed him. 

Not for the first time since he left, the bat family doubt their decision to not even try and track Timothy down. He would have hated them if they had succeeded. But, as things were, that might have been better than seeing their brother look so… hollow.

For there is no Jason. There is no body. There is nothing.  
He is alone.

He won’t tell them where he’s been. He won’t tell them what happened. What he did. What he saw.

For the first month after he returns to them it’s almost like he isn’t even really there. He won’t say _anything,_ and they’re all starting to think that they lost not one but two brothers.

It's obvious that _something_ happened. Perhaps if Tim had only shown psychological changes it would be different. Ignoring them would be difficult, but not impossible. The Bat family had all but made a sport out of avoiding trauma, emotional baggage and anything to do with mental health after all. The issue was that every time they look at him, it was like a slap to the face in that what they expect to see just wasn't there anymore.

With how much he refused to open up and remained steadfast in his self-imposed isolation, it sometimes felt like he wasn't really their brother anymore. That he was just half-heartedly playing a role.

It was thanks to this that when he finally started talking again, all they felt was a profound sense of relief. So much so that none of them, not even Bruce or Damian, attempted to question him again about the months he was gone for fear of driving the errant robin back behind his walls.

/  
.  
/

On silent footsteps a shadow hidden from even the Bats piercing gaze moved through Gotham.

With practised ease it dropped down upon the docks and all but glided towards one of the hundreds of crates that had been unloaded within the last hour by the night shift.

Thump. Thump. Thump, Thump, Thump. Thump.

The sound of a pipe crashing into the wall of a nearby crate echoed through the night, piercing through the silence as it shattered the illusion of Tranquillity. 

Just as the shadow raised the pipe to repeat its previous actions, the door of the crate behind it collapsed outward to reveal a menagerie of people hidden within.

. 

“Hey Jay, did you miss me?”

“Timmy!”

**Author's Note:**

> am i ending this update here? yes, yes i am  
im a mean bitch like that
> 
> as for why its been so long, ive been travelling
> 
> if anything though i'd feel more upset for the people following my non dc fics. i havnt got any excuse for not updating them yet other then not being able to bridge the gaps in what I've written


End file.
